In some media systems, a media file has to be fully downloaded before it can be played. In other systems, a table of contents of a media file is placed at the beginning of the file such that playback of the media file may be initiated before the download is complete. Another approach to media playback is to split the file into multiple smaller files, and then download and play each of the smaller files in sequence. While each of these approaches has different advantages, each still presents difficulties to servers with respect to the expiration of hosted content.